Spraying DIY- enamel paint

Eeeeenteresting, steempy!

*n

A guy 3 doors down from me brush painted his series landrover with some sort of enamel and it looks fine, even close up. Not a show finish but for everyday use its more than passable.
BUT...
correct me if I'm wrong but doesnt enamel react with pretty much everything else (cellulose, 2 pack, water based) which could be a problem in the future.
Mu suggestion is to buy a second hand compressor, and a new quality spray gun (they do make a difference) and practice on a scrap panel till you feel confident and competent. Respraying a car is'nt a black art but it does require some skill. At the end of the day you can always sell on your compressor to recoup your cash

do a test patch to check it doesnt bubble,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and get sanding, its all in the prepping

Also remember that when the Americans talk about "enamel paint" they are not usually talking about the same stuff we have over here.

A lot of American cars were sprayed with a paint called Acrylic Enamel from the factory when new in the 60s and 70s, and probably 80s too. This stuff fades and you can flat & polish it (US talk "color sand") which you can't do with a regular enamel.

I always thought that Rustoleum was like Hammerite Smooth, but seems not.

I've heard good things about Jenolite Repaint (available from Halfords) which is designed to be brush painted on.

You could also use Synthetic which is about £10 a litre from your local bodyshop supplier, can be sprayed or brush painted on. I've used it a few times with good results.

Thing is most cheap paint paint jobs look cheap.

Rolls Royce and other prstige brands used to brush paint their cars but in Celly IIRC

Theres a lot of misinformation going around about this.

There is no water based clear coat for example. Most water based paint jobs at the moment are done on 2K primer and with a 2K clear. The waterbase is only used to replace the HS Polyester basecoat. Also the regulations ony affect high volume bodyshops and most of these are converting to waterbased basecoats for COB work now anyway. Again with direct gloss as far as I know there are no waterbased products on the market.

This runour started that all celly and 2K would be witdrawn in April 2006. Then people are saying 2007. I have heard people saying that theres an EU directive which requires 2009 or 2010.

My paint factor says I can still buy celly for the forseeable future and 2K the same. I spoke to a guy who works for a paint manufacturer and equipment distributor, a little higher up the food chain, and he also says no plans to withdraw 2K or celly unless sales fall to the point that its not worth making it any more.

Waterbased is supposed to be good stuff. I've not tried it but have heard some very positive reports.

The real wild advances are in "dry" painting, Chrysler in the USA are well into this and most of their cars are painted without solvent or carrier (except clear coats which are still wet painted) and thats something which will be very tricky to set up at home!